Joel Zehring

I responded to Scott McLeod’s call to teachers who use video games in their classrooms. Here’s what I’ve been using lately with my students:

I use the customizable quiz games on ClassTools.net to make test prep fun and engaging. Students compete in small groups in one of the arcade-style games to qualify for a tournament of champions. And they study for Science tests.

I pulled back quite a bit on the standard lab procedure and moved my lesson up the spectrum towards inquiry. Instead of directing the students to the textbook for a step-by-step science recipe, I presented the question (What are waves?) and gave them a medium for responding (a spring toy). I also presented the objectives for the week to direct their planning. The five groups in each class then worked together to dream up their own procedures.

Once students had their hands on the toys, I was able to see better just what they understood about waves and how to measure them. In most cases, waves always appear in sets, and those sets are best measured by number of waves per thirty-second interval.

In practical terms, if someone were to walk in to my classroom in the second half of each class today, they would have seen stretched springs bouncing up and down. I definitely knocked the rust off my slinky-detangling skills.

The groups each had a digital camera to show their discoveries with the slinkies, so we’ll see in their group presentations how close they actually got to understanding the reality of transverse and longitudinal waves.

In a jam-packed semester, I guess that’s what direct instruction is for.

Pat at Successful Teaching shared some winning tips for a smooth IEP meeting. I left this comment:

Nothing piques emotions more than the Special Education referral and qualification process. I serve on our school’s Child Study Team, and it strikes me that documenting issues and interventions prior to an IEP meeting makes for a smoother meeting. Documentation helps me as a teacher to speak knowledgeably and specifically about my student. Speaking only in anecdotes can sometimes make the parents and student feel discouraged. Documentation allows me to express what I’ve observed in a more objective manner, with the goal of partnering student, parents, and teacher to overcome the observed educational challenges.
For some free charts to document behavior, check out Latitudes.org.

A quick googling of “multiple intelligences” results in a laundry list of websites explaining the basic theory, but not a whole lot to introduce the concept to students. Here are some activities that I dreamed up to illustrate each area of intelligence, and activate that intelligence a little.

• First, students will need some paper to write some notes and draw some pictures.
• Visual/Spatial – Create a detailed drawing out of a simple line

• Verbal/Linguistic – write a short story about your drawing
• Logical/Mathematical – Magic squares addition puzzle. 9 points puzzle.
• Musical – Write your three favorite songs. Play “Name that tune” with a partner by humming or drumming the song.
• Natural – List as many cat species as possible in 60 seconds.
• Kinesthetic – Cross Crawl

1. Stand with your feet slightly apart, arms at your sides. Lift your right knee toward your chest as you cross your left hand over the midline of your body, placing the hand, palm open, to the outside of the right knee.
2. Return to the starting position, and repeat with the right hand and left knee to complete 1 set. Do at least 12 sets. You can perform this move quickly and rhythmically to build energy, or very slowly to emphasize balance.

• Interpersonal – Write down three get-to-know you questions. Interview one other student.
• Intrapersonal – Answer the question “What do you do that makes you feel smart?”

The new podcast Conversations kicked off this weekend with a discussion about praise for students. Positive words from a teacher are some of the most impactful communication a person can receive. The cliche goes that teachers shape lives. Stated another way, a teacher defines a student through verbal praise.

Nowhere is this more evident than in my experience as a freshman at Scottsdale Community College. My English teacher, Harry Hude, was instrumental in igniting my love for learning and defining me as a writer. I identify myself as a writer because Mr. Hude told me that I was good at writing. He shared my writing (anonymously) with the class. He communicated to me that I had ideas worth sharing, and I was good at stating those ideas clearly.

Specific praise shapes a student’s image of himself. We develop identities based partly on how other people describe us. I know that I excel in skateboarding because I enjoy it, I feel myself get better as I practice, and other people tell me that I’m good. If I enjoyed skateboarding and felt like I was getting better, but no one ever mentioned anything, I might not pursue excellence as intensely. Imagine how my attitude would shift if I only heard about the things I did wrong on a skateboard. I’d probably quit.

Fortunately, most people are shaped slowly, and they generally bounce back from negative comments. And, praise can be a powerful agent of healing in the life of a bruised student. Teachers have daily opportunities to speak success and confidence into the lives of their students. Maria Knee and Lisa Parisi gave me a great reminder of these opportunities in the upcoming school year.

Make sure to check out the recording of their show: EdTechTalk.